PAPER 1 THEME: HUMAN INGENUITY ( technology) 3

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

A columnist in a newspaper has written an article complaining that the

media plays too great a part in people’s lives .The newspaper’s editor has
invited the readers to respond to the article with their own views. Write a
letter to the newspaper, outlining the main ways in which you think the
media influences people and commenting on whether you think its
influences are positive or negative.

Write a LETTER to the EDITOR of 450-600 words.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to your recent article about the role of media in people’s lives. I
believe that it does have a huge influence on our lives.

It seems to me that in today’s world, it is impossible to avoid the influence of media. It is all
around us. It became such a big part of our society, that we stopped even realizing it. You
cannot go through a day, without experiencing media in one way or another, unless you live
deep in the woods, with no mobile service etc. And that is because media is everywhere. On
our way to work, we listen to the radio. During the day, we use our phones, browse social
media and communicate with friends. In the evening, I believe, most of us turn on the TV,
even if just for a few minutes before bed. That is totally crazy when you think about it.

Media can have negative influence on our lives. First of all, it is a great tool for manipulating
people. The news on TV are often presented in the way government wants us to see them,
oftentimes in a borderline unrealistic way. Social media platforms are full off fake news, that
naïve people might believe. Media also can create unrealistic standards for people’s
appearance, which is very harmful, especially for young people. For this reason I believe
that we should not blindly believe every piece of information given to us, and observe media
with critical eyes.

But media is not all bad things either. It allows us to communicate and keep in contact with
our friends, often those who now live far, far away. There are even platforms where you can
meet new, interesting people. But perhaps even more importantly, it let’s us be aware of
what’s happening in the world, the exact moment it happens. And I believe that is a very
powerful thing. It is almost impossible to hide anything from the public eye in our times,
therefore many inhumanely practices can be stopped, simply because of the media coverage
they get.

It is my firm belief, that while media can be harmful, its existence is essential to our society,
and is therefore a positive thing. Media is a powerful weapon which can be used to do both
good and bad things, but I believe that the negative influence can be greatly decreased by
the recipients of it. All we have to do, which I am aware can be a bit hard for most people, is
thinking critically about what we see in the media. And reaching conclusions. And if we do
that, if the society learns to think for itself, the positives of media will come forward.
Because, in my opinion, knowledge is the greatest power one can possess. And it is oh so
easy to get it through media.

I hope you will give this matter further consideration, and I cannot wait for your next article
on the topic.

Yours faithfully,

Emilia Bojanowska